Imperial Angkor - its vast water system was a marvel of engineering - and a cautionary tale of technological overreach!!
Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire which was a very powerful civilisation based in modern day Cambodia about 750 years ago. The city of Greater Angkor covered almost 400 square miles roughly the area of the five boroughs of New York City, with as many as 750,000 inhabitants.
Most were rice farmers and labourers who worked the giant jigsaw of fields. Though, the rainy season usually brought ample water, the ability to store water in great reservoirs called Barays and control its flow gave Angkor an edge in times of drought or flood. But this engineered landscape required constant maintenance. When the water system faltered, so did Angkor's power.
What went wrong?
Any civilisation in South-East Asia is heavily dependent on the monsoon for water. When the monsoon arrived the rainwater was directed into channels and stored for irrigation to grow crops in the futures. The problem was the monsoon weakened and moved south and thus did not reach as far north as Angkor. This meant water could not be stored and a drought started. People from the surrounding areas could not grow food because of the drought and migrated to Angkor. The migrants used more water and eventually Angkor ran out of water. Eventually people moved out of Angkor in search of water and an area in which to grow food.
The lesson here is real - people are being made homeless and have to move to towns and cities that cannot deal with the influx of people and eventually what resources are left are depleted so there are no resources left for anybody. This is happening today. We have to find a way to cope with climate change refugees and the consequential scare resource depletion.
http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/secrets-of-angkor-3774/Overview
Angkor was the capital of the Khmer Empire which was a very powerful civilisation based in modern day Cambodia about 750 years ago. The city of Greater Angkor covered almost 400 square miles roughly the area of the five boroughs of New York City, with as many as 750,000 inhabitants.Most were rice farmers and labourers who worked the giant jigsaw of fields. Though, the rainy season usually brought ample water, the ability to store water in great reservoirs called Barays and control its flow gave Angkor an edge in times of drought or flood. But this engineered landscape required constant maintenance. When the water system faltered, so did Angkor's power.
What went wrong?
Any civilisation in South-East Asia is heavily dependent on the monsoon for water. When the monsoon arrived the rainwater was directed into channels and stored for irrigation to grow crops in the futures. The problem was the monsoon weakened and moved south and thus did not reach as far north as Angkor. This meant water could not be stored and a drought started. People from the surrounding areas could not grow food because of the drought and migrated to Angkor. The migrants used more water and eventually Angkor ran out of water. Eventually people moved out of Angkor in search of water and an area in which to grow food.
The lesson here is real - people are being made homeless and have to move to towns and cities that cannot deal with the influx of people and eventually what resources are left are depleted so there are no resources left for anybody. This is happening today. We have to find a way to cope with climate change refugees and the consequential scare resource depletion.http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/episode/secrets-of-angkor-3774/Overview
Mr. Still
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